Headed up to the Lakes with Steve in what was clearly going to be bad weather. However, we'd already skipped a couple of planned sessions because of weather forecasts, so we just decided to go for it.
I delayed proceedings by having to rethread my ageing and frayed boot laces - had to kind of lance them through. Genuinely thought I was going to have to bail at one point.
We headed up the steep steps as the rain poured down and the wind howled. We had crampons and ice axes with us, but were realistic that they probably wouldn't be needed.
We got to the top and followed the path to the east (I think) so that we could join the ridge and follow it round to the west. However, the terrain was undulating and visibility was poor and we soon realised that we were considerably off track. We used phone gps to recalibrate ourselves and got ourselves heading in the right direction.
Overall it was hardly optimal walking conditions - endurable rather than enjoyable. Especially with the goggles on.
As we gained height, we started meeting the sludgy snow covering. We also met more wind and sleet. It was a struggle to walk in a straight line with the wind literally spinning us around like spinning tops on a few occasions. We could see the line we needed to follow up in front of us, but I became increasingly unsure whether it was a good idea to follow it, from both a safety and enjoyment factor, I was trying to read Steve for signs of him wanting to call it a day. He wasn't showing any, so eventually it was me who called it.
We headed back to the car. Once we descended a bit, the weather improved, very, very slightly.
The steps down were pretty treacherous, they seemed to slop down in a lumpy kind of way which was very unhelpful in these conditions.
We met a woman on the way down who was going up to the Tarn to scatter her husbands ashes. As we continued we reached a stream which we needed to cross and due to the rain fall it was pretty tricky. I still wonder how that woman managed to cross it on her own - I wish we'd gone back for her.
Went down to the pub, took our waterproofs off and paid over the odds for a decidedly average steak. But at least we'd got out there and given it our best shot, right....?
